Imagine living in a luxury home in a world class golfing community with views like these! You can at PGA WEST, located in La Quinta, CA, whether you choose to buy a condo or a detached single family residence! They all offer amazing views. The prices range from the low $200,000s for condos to over $3 mil for luxury estates.

Pictured above are the spectacular views from a single family detached home located in the PGA Weiskopf gated community (there are 7 communities to choose from inside PGA West!) and is currently listed for $1,695,000. This fabulous home offers 4817 sq ft of luxury living with all the finest finishes and appliances, and is being offered decorator furnished!

If you prefer a condo, please consider my latest listing at 79772 Olympia Fields in the Palmer Private community, which also has million dollar views. Offered turnkey furnished for only $257,000! It’s a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 1492 sq ft townhouse with 2 master bedrooms upstairs with en suite bathrooms. One bedroom faces the lake views which you can enjoy from your private balcony, and offers a walk-in closet. The other bedroom is on the other side of the house. The lake views with the Santa Rosa Mountains to the right are stunning! Here is a photo of the million dollar views from the south-facing patio and balcony:

These are the MILLION DOLLAR VIEWS from the townhouse at 79773 Olympia Fields listed at only $257,000!

This delightful townhouse is tastefully furnished and has many upgrades including slab granite counters in the kitchen and bar area in the living room, plantation shutters throughout, ceiling fans, and more. It offers a detached two car garage, off the courtyard next to the kitchen. It boasts a fireplace in the living room for cold winter nights. There is also a guest bathroom and a closet with a new washer and dryer on the first level. There are several pools with spas nearby to choose from to enjoy. HOA dues include all landscaping, exterior paint, roof, cable, trash, insurance including earthquake insurance, 24-hour guarded gate.

This desirable property makes a great weekend getaway, or long-term second home during our season, or a year-round primary home, and/or an excellent rental income property.

Master bathroom, with dual sinks, soaking bathtub and shower, and a walk-in closet.

The entire Coachella Valley is a golf mecca, and here at PGA WEST, you are in a highly concentrated golf course area as there are 6 courses to choose from! Three are private (Palmer, Nicklaus, Weiskopf), however three are semi-private (Nicklaus Tournament, Stadium, Norman). There are 3 clubhouses, several restaurants in PGA West, and there is the affiliate connection to the La Quinta Resort and Spa, as well as The Citrus, with additional restaurants for members. Being a resident here is offering you a KEY TO THE DESERT LIFESTYLE and a KEY TO THE BEST OF LA QUINTA in particular! Whatever you are interested in whether social or golfing or fitness activities, it’s here for you to enjoy! The list is long: golf, swimming, tennis (your choice of grass, hardcore, or clay courts), pickleball, racquet ball, fitness, yoga… you get the picture! For more information on membership, please call 760-564-7111. Here is a link to discover more about the PGA West lifestyle: http://www.pgawest.com/custom/flipbook/PGAWESTBook/index.html

Golfers enjoy the Weiskopf Private course on a sunny December afternoon.

The PGA West Private Clubhouse beckons in the afternoon sun.

There are amazing lake, fairway and mountain views throughout PGA WEST!

A Spanish style home in PGA WEST Norman currently listed for $1,295,000.

The infinity pool at this home overlooks the 2nd hole in the Weiskopf Private course, offered for $3,750,000. With 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, office, it’s 7,927 sq ft on a 28,314 sq ft lot.

To summarize, there is so much to explore in PGA WEST that you need a guide to help you in your search for your perfect place in the sun, whether it’s your primary home, a secondary home, and/or an income property. There are no rental restrictions at this time at the residences of PGA WEST, and so many residents take advantage of this to rent their properties out for premium prices during special events or during the season when they are not using their properties. During our season, there are a myriad of world class events here in the desert which attracts national and international sun seekers! These events included golf and tennis tournaments, polo and other equestrian events such as HITS, music festivals such as Coachella, StageCoach, Desert Trip, fashion events, car-racing events and more! Even in the summer, people come in to brave the high temps!

If you would like more information, please contact me, Wendy Campbell, your desert realtor, at 760-587-6009. You may also be interested in checking out my website: www.WendysDesertRealEstate.com for more general information about desert real estate.

I wasn’t planning necessarily on attending the Coachella Music Festival 2011, especially since tickets for it sold out the day they went on sale. However, since one of my favorite groups of all time, Duran Duran, was playing, I did not rule out the possibility of trying to get in to see them SOMEHOW or another.

I was lucky enough to attend a private party held by the Radio Station Mix 100.5 at a local hotel for Duran Duran. I’ll say LUCKY! I got some great photos of the band members up close, AND I actually got a photo taken of me in between Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon along with John Taylor and Roger Taylor, and three other Duran Duran fans, which I am looking forward to seeing on the radio’s website.

In the meantime, I shot this photo of lead singer and frontman Simon Le Bon as he entered the room to the stage where they would answer questions from the audience which had been pre-written on cards.

Simon Le Bon, lead singer and frontman for Duran Duran

The band members sat on the stage and answered the questions with typical dry English humor as well as a sense of warmth and gratitude. Roger Taylor, the drummer, especially expressed his appreciation of Duran Duran’s invitation to the Coachella Music Festival, saying it was a highlight of his career with Duran Duran.

Duran Duran was one of the hottest rock and roll bands in the 1980s, and they were early pioneers in stylish music videos for their songs which aired on MTV. They were glam rockers with catchy tunes that were rock-based and dance-inspiring. Their luxurious lifestyles that included yachts, private jets, models, partying in style in all the hotspots, also caught the imagination. Their hit “View to a Kill” was featured in one of my favorite James Bond movies by the same title.

Since the 80s, they have periodically staged “comebacks” and now they have a new album called “All You Need Is Now”. I have the CD and have listened to it several times since I received it yesterday at the private party and it is great! They have returned to their roots– the catchy, rock-dance-pop sound that made them hugely popular in the first place. I highly recommend it!

Here is a group shot I took of the guys on stage, as they amused the adoring audience.

Simon Le Bon smiles at me! 🙂

One of the fun questions that was posed to them was, “What did you spend money on as soon as you hit it big financially?” John Taylor said” a car”; Nick Rhodes said “art”; Roger Taylor said “a Mercedes”, and Simon Le Bon said he spent it “on a long string of beautiful women”, which cracked everyone up.

After the interview, all the fans there were invited to get up on stage in groups of four to get up on stage with the four members of Duran Duran that were there, and have our photos taken. What a blast! Here is a photo taken that day of me and Nick Rhodes (my Favorite!). As you can see, I was tickled pink to be so close to Nick and immortalized in this photo! (Note: I did crop the group photo to show just me and Nick, for fun!)

So, after that fabulous experience, I was more determined than ever to see Duran Duran at the Coachella Music Festival, especially since it is 15 minutes away from my home AND especially since I missed Woodstock in 1969!

This year’s festival sold out in one day! And so I was going to have to get creative to attend.

I drove over to near the restricted area and parked at a friend’s house. And trekked over to where many attendees were streaming out, figuring my best bet was to buy a wristband (absolutely necessary for attending! no ifs, ands or buts, as I found out!) from someone leaving. After all it was the last night, a Sunday, and I figured many would be leaving to drive back to LA so they could get a good night’s sleep before working on the next day.

I met about three people who had luck doing just that in my efforts to flag people down to sell me their wristband. Some paid $80, one paid, $38. I ended up paying $20! All I had on me was $25 anyway. So, SUCCESS! Getting the wristband was the main hurdle. But then there was the seemingly endless, dusty trek to get to the gates into the festival. Literally, I walked MILES to get there! In high-heeled platforms, which was ridiculous, of course, to wear in the first place to such an event.

I heard Duran Duran hit the stage. I was anxious to get in! Finally I got in, but wait! At first the chip in my wristband failed! OH NO! But then– YAY! On came the Green Light when the guards scanned it again. OH my God. All this high tech stuff is freaky.

So I limped and sprinted across the fields toward the sounds from the stage where Duran Duran was playing, and there they were and there I was. GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

John Taylor with Roger Taylor on the Big Screen

They sounded great, and looked great. The crowd was enthusiastic and many sang along with the band, showing that Duran Duran has fans from all age groups.

Waving crowd

They had a great light show as well, especially during their James Bond hit “View to a Kill”. Simon Le Bon is a top frontman, elegant, with an exuberant personality and understated charisma.

Simon Le Bon

After Duran Duran played, I stuck around for a while, listened to a song by the following band the Strokes, but decided to then check out some of the art.

Attendees relax under a giant bug sculpture

After a while the melange of sounds and glowing lights and rambling people made me feel like I was inside of a giant video arcade. I was more an observer at this festival than a participant. After all, this is the Woodstock of this generation, not mine, but I was happy to observe and be a participant even at a limited level. It was great people-watching and a beautiful evening under the full moon and bright stars on a warm desert night.

I loved the wild and creative spirit, but it was highly organized, much more so than Woodstock was, obviously!

Fortunately, on the way out, a nice young couple on a golf cart took mercy upon me and gave me a hair-raising ride across fields, down dirt roads and through the crowds to one of the main roads that was closed off. They dropped me off, and I discovered I still had at least a half mile to walk down the corner where my indulging husband would be able to pick me up.

He took forever, because in his words, “it was like a police state” getting through detours and checkpoints, to find me.

All in all, it was an unforgettable experience, and alot of fun, in spite of my aching feet which are only now recovering.

I am grateful that I was able to have this experience, and I am glad to be able to share it with you!

The Coachella Music Festival helps to put this wonderful desert on the map, including for people who are looking to buy real estate. This is a beautiful spot on our planet earth, and it is very reasonably priced, especially at this time. As more and more people discover this area, more people will want to call the desert their home, at least for part of the year. As a full-time realtor, I can help you find your piece of paradise here!